Proud to serve: UWSA soldiers participating in a military parade in Wa State. — AFP
Panghsang: It has a standing army of 25,000, manufactures its own guns and conscripts at least one member of each household. Meet the United Wa State Army (USWA): Communist, reclusive, China-backed rebels determined to protect their supremacy over Myanmar’s badland border zone.Thousands of soldiers, including a company of women and a sniper platoon in combat webbing, marched early yesterday alongside armoured vehicles in Panghsang, capital of the ethnic Wa, which borders China’s Yunnan province.
It was a show of force marking 30 years since Communist Wa rebels signed a ceasefire with Myanmar leading to the establishment of a special, semi-autonomous zone, led by Bao Youxiang, chief of one of the world’s largest non-state armies.
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